I Know
by Thecrazyrabidfangirl
Summary: Confused and tormented by her feelings for Unohana, Isane spends a night on the town with her sister Kiyone. What's the worst that could happen?... Unohana x Isane


**Summary: **Confused and tormented by her feelings for Unohana, Isane spends a night on the town with her sister Kiyone. What's the worst that could happen?...

**Genre(s): **Romance/Angst

**Character(s): **R. Unohana, Isane K., Kiyone K.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach

* * *

*** **_**I Know **_*****

It was a bright sunny day in the Soul Society. The vibrant afternoon sun cast its golden rays down upon the 4th Division hospital. It was early in the afternoon, so there were only two occupants in the private officer's break room. Isane Kotetsu entered the break room carrying a tray with two bowls on it. She passed through the rows of long tables meant for the seated officers and walked up to the occupant of a smaller table at the head of the room. Isane set the tray down on the table and set the two bowls out.

"I hope you like your curry, Captain, I made it myself," Isane said with her head lowered as she took her spot opposite her captain at the table. Retsu Unohana pulled the bowl to herself and began to eat.

"It's good, Isane," Unohana complimented gently. Isane briefly raised her head to give a small smile of gratitude then fixated her eyes back on her own bowl of food.

_'This is ridiculous, I can't even look at her now without feeling sick inside,'_ Isane thought as she clenched and unclenched her hands in her lap. _'When did my feelings for my Captain become so unbearable like this?' _Isane dared to look up at her captain, who was slowly and calmly eating with her eyes closed. Isane's face went incredibly red at just the prolonged sight of Unohana and she quickly lowered her eyes back to her meal, hoping her captain would not notice.

"Isane?" Isane jumped slightly and looked up, meeting her captain's gaze. "Are you feeling well?" Unohana inquired. "You're flushed and you haven't touched your porridge yet."

Isane opened her mouth to respond but all that came out was "Uh..." which only caused her to blush harder. She quickly averted her eyes downwards and began to shovel her porridge into her mouth.

"I'm fine, Captain," she said after pausing a moment from her rapid eating. Isane nearly fainted when she felt a soothing pressure against her forehead, she raised her eyes to see Unohana's hand outstretched and pressed against her head.

"Your temperature is normal and yet you are still flushed," Unohana said inquisitively. Isane was frozen for a moment in shock at Unohana's touch. She shook her head then abruptly rose from the table.

"I'm sorry, Captain...I have to go do...uh...paperwork!" she stammered before rushing out of the break room, with Unohana watching her the whole time with concern.

*** Bleach ***

Isane rested her head on top of a pile of paperwork on her desk, the late afternoon sun shining through the window and highlighting her silvery hair. She sighed sadly.

_'How could I embarrass myself in front of the Captain like that?'_ Isane turned her head over on her paperwork pillow. _'When did my feelings for her become unbearable like this? I've always admired her, even loved her, but...' _Isane sighed again. Just as she lifted her head up and was about to continue her paperwork, the door to her office slid open.

"Sis!" Kiyone Kotetsu came running through the door and up to Isane's desk, her hands behind her back with a smile on her face. Isane smiled in return.

"Hey, Kiyone," she greeted.

"Isane, wanna go out drinking with me? I figured since we haven't spent much time together lately we should go out and do something!" Kiyone said excitedly. Isane was silent for a moment.

_'Drinking with Kiyone? I really shouldn't…' _ Images of Unohana's gently smiling face flashed through Isane's mind and her stomach clinched.

"Sure, Kiyone, let's go," Isane finally answered after a moment of silence. Kiyone clasped her hands together and grinned happily as Isane got up from her seat and followed Kiyone out of her office.

*** Bleach ***

Night had already fallen by the time Isane and Kiyone arrived at The Broken Blade, a popular bar in the Seireitei. The bar was dimly lit and filled with the soft murmur of Shinigami conversing with one another. Isane had been to the bar a couple times in the past, but only with Kiyone, and she had not drunk much either of those times. Isane could feel the eyes of a few Shinigami on her as she and Kiyone made their way over to a corner booth. A waitress appeared at the side of the table as soon as they sat down.

"And what will you ladies be having?" she asked with a cheerful smile. Kiyone piped up.

"A jug of your finest sake please," the waitress nodded and vanished in a second, returning almost instantly holding a tray with a jug and two cups on it. She set the tray on the table and disappeared again.

By the time Isane had gotten half-way through her first cup of sake, Kiyone had downed two and was pouring up a third.

"You really shouldn't drink so much, Kiyone," Isane said as she finished off her cup. Kiyone giggled as she downed her third cup in one gulp. "Or maybe _you_ should drink more, sis," Kiyone said as she poured another cup. Isane thought about Kiyone's words for a moment as her cup hovered at her lips.

_'The captain will never notice my feelings, she's a mother to everybody and I'm no one special, and I can't bear these feelings for her.'_ Isane downed the cup in one gulp before pouring up another.

"Yeah, maybe I should…" she said before downing the cup.

"That's the spirit sis!" Kiyone said happily.

After finishing off their first jug of sake Kiyone ordered them a second. When it arrived Isane quickly poured and downed a cup, enjoying the warmth spreading out through her, helping her to forget her emotional troubles. She became lost in her own thoughts and as the feeling of the sake dulled her pain over Unohana, she was brought out of her reverie by Kiyone's voice.

"Can you believe what Sentaro did earlier? I was trying to finish all of my paperwork early to impress Captain Ukitake and Sentaro threw all my paperwork into the koi pond!" Kiyone was slightly red in the face with anger.

"And then!" she continued. "He got all his own paperwork done while I was trying to fish my own out of the pond!" Kiyone slammed her fist against the table. "I hate that man."

The whole time Isane simply watched and listened, finding her little sister's rants kind of cute, though she also sympathized with wanting to impress her captain. By the time that they had finished off their second jug of sake and received their third, Kiyone was thoroughly drunk, giggling and swaying in her seat.

"I really...really hate Sentaro," Kiyone said with a stammer and sway. She had done most of the drinking, however, Isane was also starting to feel light-headed and dulled from her share of the alcohol.

"He's always...He's always trying to keep me from impressing Jushiro," Kiyone giggled with a dreamy smile on her face. "And I _really_ like Jushiro..." she drifted off with a dreamy look in her eyes. Isane slowly nodded.

"I love the Captain..." she said without thinking, the sake having dulled her awareness and senses. Kiyone looked aghast for a moment.

"You can't like Jushiro too!" Kiyone said louder than necessary then giggled again. "He's...he's _mine_!" Kiyone said as she pointed a wavering finger at Isane.

Before Isane had the opportunity to respond, Kiyone saw something at the entrance of the bar that caught her attention.

"Rangiku!" Kiyone shouted across the bar, which turned some people's heads. In the doorway were Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika who had apparently just arrived. Rangiku excitedly waved at Kiyone who got up from her booth and went over to her, leaving Isane to herself. She seemed rather unfazed by Kiyone's abandonment, simply downing another cup of sake and letting it blur her thoughts.

_'Kiyone likes Ukitake, huh? Not really surprised...' _Isane thought with a small smile. Despite her blurry thoughts and emotions, she still found herself thinking of Unohana. Suddenly Isane was torn from her thoughts by a loud burst of laughter coming from a table in the center of the bar. Kiyone, Rangiku, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were now located at that center table with a surprising amount of empty jugs littering the table for recent arrivals. Rangiku was leaning provocatively against Ikkaku whose entire head was a bright shade of red, with her, Kiyone, and Yumichika being the source of the laughter.

"When are you ever going to...settle down with just one man, Rangiku?" Kiyone asked between fits of giggles. Rangiku sat back up and began rubbing Ikkaku's bald head in a sensual manner, only making him go redder.

"Why should I ever just settle for one man?" Rangiku said with a slur as she stopped rubbing Ikkaku's head. "Besides, how am I supposed to know what true love is supposed to feel like?" Rangiku asked as she eyed Kiyone. Isane's ears perked up at this, suddenly interested in their drunken conversation. Kiyone took on as best of an inquisitive look as she could for being drunk.

"I think true love would probably make you feel sick inside," Kiyone said with a mock serious look and tone before breaking down into giggles.

"Well then I'd much rather be drunk!" Rangiku replied which brought laughter from the entire table once again. The realization hit Isane.

_'Has that been it? All this time, I've truly been in love with the Captain?_' Isane felt her hand trembling and quickly drank another cup of sake. _'I've always loved and admired her, but true love? Could it be..?' _Kiyone piped up again from the center table.

"Well I know that true love would be...special," she said as she stared off into the distance with dream-filled eyes. Isane sighed and stared at her reflection in her cup.

_'I should tell her...'_ and without a second thought Isane got up from the table, wobbled for a second and left the bar.

*** Bleach ***

Isane managed to safely shunpo her way back to the 4th Division and, though she was still a little shaky, she managed to enter the 4th Division barracks. It was late at night and far past the time that any other Shinigami would be awake. Isane strode down the corridors towards her destination: Unohana's bedroom. With each step she took, her confidence grew, she had it all planned out in her head, her confession and Unohana's acceptance of her feelings. Finally she made it to her destination.

_'This is it,' _Isane thought as she steeled her nerves in front of Unohana's bedroom door. Sliding the door open in one swift motion, Isane was caught off guard by what she saw.

Unohana was sitting at a small table in the center of the room practicing calligraphy, her elegant brush strokes painting large perfect kanji across the canvas of paper. What really caught Isane's attention was how Unohana's hair was out of it's normal frontal braid, and instead loosely flowing down her back, and the white cotton sleeping kimono that she wore. Unohana looked up to see Isane standing in her doorway.

"Isane?" she asked softly. All of Isane's courage drained out of her at that moment and she fell to her knees, a bright red blush across her face.

"C-Captain," she stuttered out. Unohana rose to her feet and rushed over to Isane's side, lifting her up to her feet.

"Isane, are you alright?" Unohana asked with concern evident in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Captain..." Isane said with her head hanging.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" Unohana said with a smile. "Let's get you back to your bed," She said as she lead Isane out of her room and down the hallway.

Unohana slid open the door to Isane's room and helped her in, laying her down on her futon.

"I was very concerned about you after the way you left this afternoon," Unohana said as she pulled a thick blanket over Isane. Isane gulped hard, her blush increasing, there was Unohana, tucking her into bed and saying such comforting words to her. Isane suddenly felt a surge of courage. "Captain?"

Unohana turned and smiled down at Isane. "Yes?" there was a moment of silence.

"Captain...I..l-love...you," Isane slowly said as her stomach clenched.

Unohana's smile did not falter as she placed her hand on Isane's forehead and caressed her.

"I know," Unohana replied softly, almost in a whisper. She leaned down and kissed Isane on the forehead, her lips lingering there for a few moments before she rose and left the room, giving Isane a final warming smile before sliding the door shut.

**END**

**

* * *

**

**Author's Commentary:** This was a really fun story for me to write, not only because I've been wanting to do an Unohana/Isane story for a long time, but because Unohana is such a wonderful character to write about. I hope you all enjoy the story, I worked really hard on it. All feedback is happily welcomed.


End file.
